Night Changes
by ProfessorCactustheThird
Summary: It was by far the hardest advice he ever had to follow, but also the most rewarding. (a post-Robots drabble)


_As much as I adored the ending of Robots, I couldn't help but feel that Happy and Toby slipped back into their normal dynamics a biiit too easily :/ Add that to me being in a slightly angsty mood and you end up with this..._

* * *

"Hey." A familiar voice broke the silence of the night after everyone else had dispersed.

He repeated the greeting, looking back briefly to see her crossing the roof to get to him, before going back to clearing the tables. She didn't say anything after that, silently helping him clean up.

He couldn't help but daydream about a similar scene playing out a bit further down the line, only it'd be occurring in their own little kitchen, and didn't realize how long he had been musing until she snapped him out of it with a "What?" and a slightly bemused frown. Opening his mouth to momentarily consider a wise crack, he opted against it. Even without her father's advice, he knew better than to push her now. He had said and done his part, and now everything was on her court.

"I know how we say that every case was the craziest one yet, but this definitely takes the cake."

She scoffed at him. "You're not the one who was almost electrocuted, drowned, chlorine poisoned and blown up in the span of an hour."

He squeezed his eyes as she listed all the ways it might have ended today, how they had come so close to losing half their family (especially the most important member to him, no offense to the rest).

"Hey," she softened as she observed his reaction. "We made it out. We always make it out."

"What if the next time we don't?"

"Well we say _that_ every case too, and we're still here aren't we?"

He offered her a tight smile and the two went back to wordless cleaning, although they soon found themselves leaning against the front wall of the roof, mirroring a few months back when a stupid bet with paper planes had finally gotten her to accept a date.

 _Well I fucked that up._

"Fucked what up?" She looked up at him, although she knew the answer full well. He stiffened beside her, unaware that he had commented out loud. He knew she knew, so he just shook his head and continued to look down at the city lights.

"Toby..."

He pushed off the ledge, opting to pace around the roof instead. "No, you're right. Our friendship _is_ more valuable than romance. I mean this," he gestured to the achingly empty space between them, "I'd say this is pretty good in itself, wouldn't you?"

"No."

He froze mid-step, facing away from her. "What?"

"This _isn't_ pretty good," she traced his footsteps back to him. "If strict protocol doesn't have to be followed when you're stuck 300 feet under the ocean, maybe it doesn't have to be followed up here either."

He steeled his gaze above and behind her. "Happy-"

"I've made a lot of bad decisions in my life, especially as of late, but this isn't one of them."

As he saw her reach for him, his sharp mind instantly recognized her actions from after the Baltic states case, and he did the last thing either of them expected him to.

He pushed her away.

Running a hand over his face in frustration- more at himself than at her-, he saw hurt etched into her beautiful features- the hurt that quickly hardened into a familiar indifference as she pushed past him.

"Happy," he tried to grab her arm but she twisted it out of his grip. "Happy!"

"Forget it, Doc."

"You know you can't get some guy to drop you off in the morning, then turn and pull this on me 12 hours later and expect me to just go with it."

She paused then, grip tightening around the door knob as she glared back at him over her shoulder. "Don't you dare try to talk about things you can't understand."

"Hap-" he called out after her, but was cut off by the harsh slam of the metal door

He heard her father's words echo in his ear as he watched her drive away.

He drummed them into his head while his headphones played at full blast the next morning in an attempt to drown out the sound of Chet's motorcycle engine.

He made them his mantra with every sympathetic glance Paige shot at him throughout the day as Happy unnecessarily preoccupied herself with some circuitry, completely ignoring him and the dollhouse.

In the end, it was two months of pain and taking emotions out on Cabe's poor heavy bag, and heart attacks when the truth behind Chet's arrival came out. But when all was said and done, he finally, _finally_ , understood what those words truly meant.

 _Just let her do what she's gonna do._

"Hmm?" She mumbled up at him, mind hazy with sleep, her sheets and their bodies still in the tangled mess from last night. He shook his head as he smiled at her, a smile filled with more love and adoration than she could have ever imagined, and pressed a content kiss to her lips as she snuggled even tighter into him.

* * *

 _This was typed out on my phone during lecture, I hope it wasn't too bad!_

 _Also I can't help but think that there's something more sinister to Chet than just a jealousy thing so yeah..._

 _Please review! It helps improves my writing and makes me smile :)_

 _Much love!_


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